[09/05/13 - 08:27 AM]Oxygen Media Study Reveals That 81% of Americans Have Been Bullied at Some Point in Their LivesThe study coincides with Oxygen's empowering new docu-series "My Big Fat Revenge," airing on Tuesdays at 9:00/8:00c.

[via press release from Oxygen]

OXYGEN MEDIA STUDY REVEALS THAT 81% OF AMERICANS HAVE BEEN BULLIED AT SOME POINT IN THEIR LIVES

86% REVEAL THEY WERE FIRST PICKED ON WHEN THEY WERE UNDER 15 YEARS OLD

NEW YORK - September 5, 2013 - Oxygen Media today released a study, conducted by uSamp, focusing on consumer's attitudes towards criticism, bullying and empowerment. The results confirm that 81 percent of Americans have been bullied at some point in their lives with the number one reason being their appearance (75 percent of men and women have been criticized for the way they look). Bullying seems to start early on even before high school with 86 percent of Americans first being criticized or picked on when they were under 15 years old. Most never even hear an apology, with a staggering 89 percent of Americans never saying sorry for their actions. However, most adults (66 percent) believe the best way to handle being bullied is just to ignore it and 75 percent agree that sticking up for someone can make a huge difference in someone's life.

The study coincides with Oxygen's empowering new docu-series "My Big Fat Revenge," airing on Tuesdays at 9 PM ET/PT, which gives women a life-changing opportunity of transformation and retribution as they take control of their lives and stand up to the people who inflicted the hurt. "Most people can tell you - often, as if it were yesterday - about some incident in their lives when cruel words, gestures or worse made such a strong impact that it stopped them in their tracks, shaking the core of their confidence, and leaving them questioning their talents and abilities, even the pursuit of their dreams," said JD Roth, Executive Producer of 'My Big Fat Revenge.' "In developing 'My Big Fat Revenge,' we set out to make a very loud noise about the importance, especially for women, of standing up for themselves. While the word 'Revenge' in our show certainly gets noticed, it really serves as a wake-up call for people whose actions caused hurt and harm to others, and it's that loudness which ultimately opens the door to the critical conversations that can help women move on with their lives."

Empowering Women

The study revealed that bullying between two girls is the worst type of bullying (69 percent of adults), and women are the harshest critics about other women's looks (87 percent).

· Women need to be empowered and encouraged to realize their potential and stop putting others down. 90 percent of men and women agree that empowering women is an important step to decreasing the amount of bullying.

· 84 percent of men and women agree that it actually doesn't matter what you look like, beauty is on the inside.

· Furthermore 69 percent of men and women agree that women should never alter their appearance or personality to excel in their career, social life, or education.

· 62 percent of women would dump a boyfriend if he told her to get plastic surgery.

· 41 percent of women immediately handle being picked on by staying true to themselves.

· 40 percent of younger women talk to friends in response to being picked on.

Who Makes The Most Impact?

It differs when it comes to who has the bigger impact on men and women:

· 30 percent of women say their mother has the biggest impact on their view of themselves.

· 27 percent of men say their girlfriend has the biggest impact on their view of themselves, meanwhile only 20 percent say their mother.

· In addition, younger women (ages 18-24) are more affected by criticism, 58 percent say criticism made them more self-conscious and 46 percent say being picked on has made them harsher critics of themselves.

Pressure to Lose Weight

Women feel more pressure to lose weight than men do (72 percent vs. 49 percent).

· As a result of being criticized for their weight, over half of women (55 percent) try to lose weight, 43 percent try to lose weight to make themselves feel better, and 38 percent try to lose weight to avoid being criticized again in the future.

· Furthermore, 36 percent of women say the pressure to be a certain weight stemmed from their mother.

· Meanwhile, 29 percent of men feel the pressure to lose weight stemmed from their friends.

Cyber Bullying

Today's growing digital landscape plays an important role in the growing trend of bullying.

· 93 percent of respondents will agree that cyber bullying is just as bad as bullying someone in person.

· Young women (ages 18-24) are the most common targets of online criticism (46 percent), while men more commonly criticize others over the internet (34 percent).

· The most common outlet for bullying is Facebook (62 percent), followed by text messages (26 percent) and blogs (26 percent).

About "My Big Fat Revenge"

From the producers of "The Biggest Loser" and "Extreme Weight Loss," "My Big Fat Revenge" gives women a life-changing opportunity of transformation and retribution. After being discounted, humiliated, and rejected because of their weight, the women in this empowering new docu-series are ready to take control of their lives, put their painful pasts behind them, and finally stand up to the people who inflicted the hurt. For these transformed women, this is their golden opportunity to settle their scores and hopefully get the apologies they deserve.

Following each episode, Oxygen.com is running a companion web series featuring an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the emotional journey behind the women's weight loss. From their intense workout regimens to dietary changes and weigh-ins, the web series reveals the powerful transformations and shows how the two women featured in each week's episode lost the weight and found their confidence.

Fans of "My Big Fat Revenge" can access exclusive content and join the conversation on the show's social accounts including Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+ and Pinterest. Fans may tweet or read about the series using the #MyBigFatRevenge hashtag on Twitter.

Between July 30 and August 5, 2013, the Oxygen Media Insights Group commissioned uSamp Research to survey a nationally representative sample of 1,002 U.S adults. The survey included questions about consumer's attitudes towards criticism, bullying and empowerment.

About uSamp,

uSamp, the fastest growing company in the Market Research Industry, is a premier provider of technology and survey respondents used to obtain consumer and business insights. uSamp's leading mobile technology and SaaS platform transform the way companies gain intelligence to make better, faster decisions about their products and services by tapping into uSamp's 12 million member global panel of survey respondents. Through uSamp's proprietary technologies for self-serve sampling and survey authoring, companies have on-demand access to millions of profiled survey respondents. uSamp is based in Los Angeles, with five offices throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. The company has more than 200 team members worldwide. uSamp was No. 213 on the 2012 Inc. 500|5000 exclusive ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies and is recognized on the 2011 and 2012 Forbes' America's Most Promising Company list. Please visit www.usamp.com

About Oxygen Media

Oxygen Media is a multiplatform entertainment brand that delivers relevant and engaging content to young women who like to "live out loud." Oxygen is rewriting the rulebook for women's media by changing how the world sees entertainment from a young woman's point of view. Through a vast array of unconventional and original content, including "The Face," "Best Ink," "I'm Having Their Baby" and "Bad Girls Club," the growing cable network is the premier destination to find unique and groundbreaking unscripted programming. A social media trendsetter, Oxygen is a leading force in engaging modern young women, wherever they are, with popular, award winning features online including www.OxygenLive.com, the real time social viewing party that is also available as an app for the iPhone and iPad. Oxygen is available in 80 million homes, and can be found online and on mobile devices at www.oxygen.com. Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/OxygenPR. Oxygen Media is a program service of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, a division of NBCUniversal.